TV news owner apologizes for Pride Month memo that told Michigan staff to cover fewer LGBTQ+ events
The general manager of a television news station in western Michigan has apologized after staff received a memo telling reporters to cover fewer LGBTQ+ events during Pride Month because coverage could be “polarizing.”
2023-06-17 01:16
Obama to sit down with CNN's Amanpour to discuss state of democracy in US
Former President Barack Obama will sit down with CNN's Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour for an exclusive in-depth conversation about the state of democracy that will air June 22 at 10 p.m. ET.
2023-06-17 00:59
Putin touts Russian economy as Western investors steer clear of St. Petersburg event
President Vladimir Putin is touting Russia’s prospects at the country’s main international economic forum despite heavy international sanctions imposed because of the war in Ukraine
2023-06-17 00:51
Fox News quietly changes headline after White House accused network of lying about Pride flag
Fox News has quietly changed a headline on a highly controversial article that equated a Pride flag hung at the White House with “grooming and paedophilia”. After a furious response from LGBTQ+ advocates and White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, who accused the network of “characteristically lying through its teeth”, Fox altered the headline while keeping the central “grooming” allegations in the article. The original headline and a since-deleted tweet by Fox News’ lifestyle reporter Kerry Byrne read: “White House flew controversial new transgender flag that promotes grooming and pedophilia, say critics.” The article quoted a founder of the far-right Gays Against Groomers activist group who claimed the flag was a political statement about “indoctrinating kids and trans kids and pushing kids to sterilize and mutilate themselves”. Mr Bates later shared a screenshot of Mr Byrne’s request for comment on Twitter which made no mention of a link to paedophilia or grooming. “FoxNews is characteristically lying through their teeth,” Mr Bates tweeted. “Please see Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network. Fox never even communicated the malicious and discredited foundation of this article to the White House. Then they lie about whether we responded at all,” he tweeted. After the backlash, Fox News revised the headline on Wednesday to “White House flew controversial new transgender flag that troubles some critics in the gay community”. Fox Digital did not add a footnote explaining that the article had been changed. The flag in question, known as the Progress Pride flag, was designed by artist Daniel Quasar in 2018 and is based on the original multi-coloured rainbow flag and the transgender pride flag, according to Northwestern University. The White House confirmed to Mediaite that it had responded to Fox News to say it had been flying the flag for three years at Pride events. Fox News later updated its story after publication to include the response. The edited version included a line saying: “The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment on the flag’s design and meaning.” Twitter users pointed out that Fox’s parent company wrapped its logo in the same flag to promote inclusiveness in a corporate responsibility report in 2022. Fox News did not respond to The Independent‘s request for comment. A White House spokesperson referred The Independent to Mr Bates’ tweets. Fox News, other right-wing media organisations and far-right personalities have repeatedly pushed a narrative linking transgender rights to paedophilia. The “grooming conspiracy theory”, which has led to state legislatures passing dozens of punitive laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community, is based on “discredited research and junk science”, according to the Southern Poverty Law Centre. On Wednesday night, a Biden administration source told CNN: “Fox paid the biggest settlement in media history because they platformed dangerous lies, and the lesson they took from that experience is to repeat the same behaviour, including spreading baseless QAnon filth?” This comes after Fox News came under fire earlier this week for describing President Joe Biden as a “wannabe dictator” who tried to have “his political rival arrested” during Donald Trump’s post-arraignment speech. Read More White House condemns Fox News chyron calling Biden ‘wannabe dictator’ as broadcaster walks back accusation Trump news – live: Trump rejected efforts to settle classified papers as Melania spotted in NYC on birthday Barr, Pompeo, Pence, Haley: All the Trump allies who have now changed their tune over indictment After expulsion and reinstatement, Tennessee Reps. Pearson, Jones advance past Democratic primaries US, Japan, Philippines agree to strengthen security ties amid tensions over China, North Korea Commerce Department announces nearly $1 billion in grants for 'middle mile' internet access
2023-06-17 00:26
Celebrate Juneteenth by promoting Black health, wealth and joy
Impact Your World has gathered ways you can help reject the pathology of racism and celebrate Juneteenth more thoughtfully through nonprofits that support Black health and wealth, joy, and overall empowerment.
2023-06-17 00:16
Biden criticised for suggesting bridge ‘across the Indian Ocean’
President Joe Biden is facing criticism for slipping up when outlining a new railroad project, mistakenly saying it would be built across the Indian Ocean. Mr Biden was speaking to the League of Conservation Voters in Washington DC on Wednesday night, saying, “We have plans to build a railroad from the Pacific all the way across the Indian Ocean”. “We have plans to build in Angola one of the largest solar plants in the world,” Mr Biden added. “I can go on, but I’m not. I’m going off-script. I’m going to get in trouble.” There’s no proposal to build a railroad covering the third largest ocean on the planet, and conservatives were quick to capitalise on the slip-up, with the Twitter account RNC Research sharing the clip on Wednesday night. Last week, during a visit from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Mr Biden made a similar mistake, before correcting himself, saying that “We’re talking about building — and I had my team putting together with other countries as well — to build a railroad from the Pacific Ocean — from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Indian Ocean”. Africa is surrounded by the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the Arabian Sea, but not the Pacific. Before fumbling his words, Mr Biden spoke about how the US is planning on helping developing countries combat the climate crisis. “We’ve mobilised the world’s leading emitters to help poorer countries deal with the impacts of climate change. They called it, at the G7, the Build Back Biden — Build Back Better. And we realized that got confusing,” the president said to laughter in the room. “Here’s the bottom line – We’re the ones that caused the problem, the United States. We cleared all our land. We did all the things that make things more easy for us to make money. Not a bad thing at the time. No one really fully understood,” he added. “But we, the major emitters in the world, have an obligation to help those countries.” “Soon, Africa will have one billion people. China has their Belt and Road Initiative. It turned out to be their debt and destruction initiative. No, I’m serious. Not a joke. Well, we’re going to win, and we’re going to help,” Mr Biden said, seemingly arguing that the US will take on China in their soft power push to help poorer nations with infrastructure projects, which critics have claimed are exploitative, with some calling it a “debt trap”. Mr Biden was mocked by Twitter users for his railroad slip, with conservative columnist Ian Haworth tweeting: “Who’s going to run that train, SpongeBob?” Former Utah Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz tweeted: “Bold initiative, Mr. President.” The communications director for Republican Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, Abigail Marone, wrote: “Put grandpa to bed.” The DeSantis War Room simply tweeted: “Ambitious.” Right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro made a dig about Mr Biden’s age, writing, “He does remember Pangea so.” “I for one am booking a seat on the first ever rail trip to the Indian Ocean. You laugh but the beverage car is gonna be sick,” Philadelphia talk radio host Rich Zeoli wrote. Mr Biden’s reelection effort was endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, NextGen PAC, and the Sierra Club on Wednesday evening, the New York Post noted. Read More Fox News producer behind chyron calling Biden a ‘wannabe dictator’ parts ways with network How was a 21-year-old gamer able to leak a mountain of major Pentagon secrets? Tucker Carlson asks ‘why the hysteria’ over Fox’s Biden ‘wannabe dictator’ chyron US company signs agreement to enter retail fuel market in crisis-hit Sri Lanka US defense secretary discusses upgrading ties with India to counter China Trump gloats as he scores rare legal win in New York golf club tax probe – live
2023-06-16 22:50
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle part ways with Spotify after less than a year of 'Archetypes' podcast
The production company founded by Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, is splitting ways with Spotify less than a year after the debut of their podcast “Archetypes.”
2023-06-16 22:19
Jennifer Aniston's rare medical condition gave Brad Pitt the fright of his life: 'He was terrified'
Despite her disciplined exercise and sleep routine, Jennifer Aniston has encountered various challenges when it comes to getting a good night's rest
2023-06-16 20:58
TikTok stars Addison Rae, Bella Poarch and Charli D'Amelio fall victim to deepfake porn scandal
Manipulated images and videos depict the faces of these popular TikTokers imposed onto explicit pornographic content without their consent
2023-06-16 20:49
Help for dads on Father's Day -- and beyond
While Father's Day is an annual tradition celebrated the third Sunday in June, there are several organizations that support dads year-round.
2023-06-16 20:45
Jennifer Garner turns down John Miller’s proposal to move in together as children are still adapting to stepfamily situation: ‘Just not an option’
Jennifer Garner and ex-husband Ben Affleck currently co-parent their three children with his second wife Jennifer Lopez
2023-06-16 20:45
Ryanair apologises for 'Tel Aviv in Palestine' flight row
Passengers on a flight to Israel reacted angrily after a member of cabin crew made the announcement.
2023-06-16 20:26